The ever-weird EnglishRussia just posted a rare collection of Yuri Gagarin photos. I’m used to seeing this hero of my childhood, the first man in space, smiling like Superman while decked in Soviet bling, so the image above of Gagarin posing with a skeleton and his creepy friend, Russian Crispin Glover, took me by surprise. There are so many things to love about this image. I love the expression on the skeleton’s face! I love the buttons on that coat! This is definitely the kind of pin-up I’d put on my wall.

And below, we have… well, I’m not entirely sure what we have there. It appears to be Gagarin dressed as Neptune for a play. But if he’s Neptune, then who’s the guy in the turban? And doesn’t it look like they’re in a gym locker room? Someone help me decipher this mystery.

I’m sorry, what did you say? I was completely distracted by Gagarin’s very nice bicep….
Oh, yes. I would say Captain Nemo, but that statement is only based on my viewing of The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen. A turban that big would certainly not be practical for seafaring.

I’m late to the site but enjoying it immensely, so that also explains my lateness to post. I’m going to put my vote with the line crossing since you see he has a mike in his hand and the shower facilities would also make sense since these events often got messy.